Ryan and Amanda's Report: Anime Expo 2013

Hey everyone, welcome to mine and Amanda's report on Anime Expo 2013! This year has been a phenomenal year for all of us. Isn't that right, Amanda?
...Yeah!
It's funny, cause normally this isn't my writing style, but, it's very unique that we get to write together for the very first time.  Well, let's get started, shall we?

Cara's PMX 2013 Review

I’m going to apologize right off the bat because I was only able to attend half of the convention due to health problems. However, I believe I got a good enough feel for the convention to put out a good review. Tally, another correspondent for this blog, attended as well; so you can look at her review too. Anyway, let’s start!

Matthew's Quick Hit Reports: NorCal Fall Cosplay Gathering 2013

For awhile now, the NorCal Cosplay Gatherings have been a staple within the community here. It's held every quarterly at various parks in the Bay Area and the turnouts have been increasing with this recent one held at Vascoe Lake Park being the highest ever in its history. I finally had a chance to come out here and check this event for myself, and I had a very good time.

Nate Reports: Japan Expo 2013

You would hear about Japan Expo around areas in Europe as it is one of the biggest conventions in the area. Just last year, they have held a record attendance of 208,000 attendees! Wow even Anime Expo can't beat that! It's so big that they would put a subsidiary convention in the United States. And wouldn't you know it, Japan Expo's first US convention was located here in the Bay Area. Of course I would take advantage and planned to attend this convention hoping for an awesome time (before school begins for me.....)

Ray Reports: Japan Expo USA 2013 - A Taste of European Conventions

When I first heard of Japan Expo making plans to expand to the U.S., I didn't think much of it. That is, until I heard that the show was to be held at a very familiar location: The Santa Clara Convention Center. Knowing that the Paris-based show was to take place in the very city I live in, I was instantly on board with attending.

Japan Expo USA: First Impact (Robbie's Report)

The lead up to Japan Expo USA's first year was a bit of a bumpy road, but it had a nice payoff. As with all things, it had some issues that are in need of addressing, but I think that the good outweighed the bad by far, and sets a nice starting point for its future years.

In Memoriam: Elizabeth Stevenson, 1985-2013

When I got word of Elizabeth's death via Facebook and decided to go to the Saturday mass, I didn't have any idea of who she was. But as a long-time member of the NorCal cosplay community, I wanted to pay my respects for someone who has fallen.

I showed up about 9:50am. I asked some of her friends if they needed help getting a memorial collage, and as I was helping I saw photos of her cosplaying as Vash and Wesker.

I said to myself "Oh boy, things just got a lot harder."

Nate Reports: A Japan Expo Preview

As part of the ongoing coverage of the California conventions, the press team of Japan Expo will be providing a little preview of what we expect to see over at this brand new convention that is conveniently located in the bay area. So without further delay, here's my overall aspect of the new convention, Japan Expo.

Pre-Japan Expo Thoughts (Robbie Edition)

When it was first announced that Japan Expo was setting up in the states, the fans went wild with speculation and excitement. It didn't hurt at all that it'll be held in the Santa Clara Convention Center, where Fanime once called home. Now, with the convention just days away, we have a better look at what's to come.

Ray Pre-Reports: Japan Expo 2013

In the past two years, we've seen a couple of Northern California conventions switch over to Southern California: WonderCon from San Francisco to Anaheim, and Yaoi-Con from Burlingame to Long Beach. Although the two cons are recently making plans to move back up, this trend left us folks in NorCal with two less conventions to go to.

Fortunately, in their place we get Japan Expo, a major Europe-based expo with a 2012 attendence of 208,000 that recently expanded to have a U.S. branch. And by a stroke of fortune, they've chosen my hometown of Santa Clara to host their first American iteration.

Nate's Report: Kinyoobicon 2013

Man does it feel good to be back home. After a month of good times at Anime Expo, it's time to hit up another anime convention and wouldn't you know it, this con is located right next to me! It's called Kinyoobicon, an anime convention made by a gaming club in Chabot College of Hayward. I haven't heard about this place until one of my friends told me to check it out. With a guest lineup of Sonny Strait and Christine Cabanos, how could I not turn down an con like this. It's time to check my "homecourt" con and see how it goes.

The History of Capitol Fight District (So Far)

It all started back in February of 2012, in a small hall known as the Artisan Building in the Del Paso Heights area.

The flyer for the first ever Capitol Fight District.

Matthew's "Heroes of Cosplay" Review

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the California Conventions Blog.

Before this show even got on the air, it was already stirring controversy within the cosplay community through cropping out watermarks, some comments from an executive producer regarding women and men cosplaying, and the general idea of the show's nature.

I really didn't want to watch this, but after watching the first episode I really want to see how this series plays out. It's like watching a horrific train wreck: you can't help to watch it to the very end.

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 8 - Overall Impressions & Epilogue

As another Anime Expo comes and goes, it's safe to say that AX will hold their crown of "North America's Largest Anime Convention" at 61,000 attendees for the 2013 edition. Keep in mind though that it's not the biggest convention in the world let alone North America; San Diego Comic-Con, Dragon*Con, and Japan Expo in France pull in more if not double or triple of AX's attendance numbers.

I will say this: this year's Anime Expo was a blast to a part of, but it could of been much better.

Cara's Anime Expo 2013 Review

I'm so sorry this is so late. The week following AX I got a concussion and I'm finally feeling well enough to finish this.

Ray Reports: J-Pop Summit Festival 2013

San Francisco's Japantown district, other than being a center for Japanese culture for resident in San Francisco, is also particularly popular amongst enthusiasts of Japanese pop culture. It's then no surprise that it's home to a few festivals that welcome cosplayers with open arms. This weekend in particular is the weekend of the annual J-Pop Summit Festival, a festival dedicated to J-pop and other parts of Japanese culture, not just anime, manga, and video games.

Matthew's Quick Hit Reports: Kintoki-Con 2013

My theory about these small conventions is that they can be a test bed/pilot/dry run of cosplay and a sign for things to come with other conventions given that a lot of these conventions are run by primarily the same staff. I put that theory to test with Saturday's visit to Kintoki-Con 2013.

Nate's Report: Anime Expo 2013 Review

Alright so I have pretty much told you all of the things that happened over at Anime Expo this year. Now it's time to take it into a serious note and review this con entirely. So lets get to it!

San Diego Comic Con 2013 (Part 2)

Saturday, day 3, began with the Riddler. My first stop was the DC booth, but I was already too late to get tickets for the Geoff Johns and Jim Lee signings. I did get autographs from some of the artists there, and managed to accomplish one of my goals: I recorded something for DC Nation. I answered a few questions about my favorite characters and why I chose to be the Riddler, then recorded a line for the commercial break for the new Batman animated show.

San Diego Comic Con 2013 (Part 1)

San Diego Comic Con… even now, it seems hard to believe that I was there, in the holy land of geekery. Perhaps it's because I only feel like I got half of the experience, mainly, the half that involves waiting in a lot of lines and slowly wading through huge crowds. Still, it was my first year at Comic Con, so let's go over the trip and see how it worked out for me.

Ray Reports: Post-AX 2013

So with AX 2013 out of the way, it was time for my roommates and I to leave SoCal, right?

Wrong!

We still had plenty more to do, starting with immediately after the convention ended.

Ray Reports: Anime Expo 2013 Day 4: End of the Expo Line

The final day of any con is always the saddest and most hectic; having to check out of one's room, things closing early, coming to terms with the con ending and having to leave until next year, etc.
Though, for me and the rest of CCB's AX team, we had things to do in SoCal after the expo was over. In fact, we had two more days at the hotel before checking out.

Ray Reports: Anime Expo 2013 Day 3: Touhoucon

Day 3 of Anime Expo was Touhou day for me, and featured the gathering itself and the post-gathering dinner.

Anime Expo 2013 Review by Rukazu

Anime Expo 2013 Review

By Rukazu

Hey everyone, this is Rukazu, aka Lucas reporting on Anime Expo 2013!

First off, I want to tell everyone that while I did not actually get my press badge this year, I’m still putting up a review because I want to say my share on the expo.  

Ray Reports: Anime Expo 2013 Day 2: Persona-con

Day 2, Friday, saw me attending a couple of Shin Megami Tensei events: The daytime gathering as well as the corresponding midnight gathering.

Ray Reports: Anime Expo 2013 Day 1: Mission Start!

One of AX's biggest attractions is the exhibitor's hall, and oh boy, it is quite the site to behold.. Other attractions open this same day as well, setting the con in motion.

Ray Reports: Anime Expo 2013 Day 0: Babby's First AX

Anime Expo, located in scenic Los Angeles. For many, it's the con that one just has to attend at least once. I've been wanting to go since 2007, and only this year was I able to finally realize my dream, in addition to also meeting several of my online friends and getting to know the SoCal cosplay scene. The rest of the CCB crew and I made plans to pool together money for a hotel room and spend not just the five days the convention spanned, but also a couple extra to take advantage of our times in SoCal.

Nate's report: Anime Expo 2013 (Day 2-4 + Post AX)

Anime Expo has already been awesome with all the things I've done on Day 1. Let's hope the rest of Anime Expo is as exciting!

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 7 - Days Five & Six

If you weren't checking out yesterday, you were checking out today to beat out the last day of the convention rush out of the hotel. But we were staying an extra day and checking out on Tuesday. We wanted to hit up some places and see family before taking off the next day.

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 6 - Day Four

For most people, the last day of the covention meant that you were checking out of the hotel meaning that you're in that mad dash to get everything out of the room while experiencing the last day. I remember back at Fanime when I had my rooms cleared out early to avoid the rush of attendees checking out, but now we all had the luxury of enjoying the last day without the rush.

Jade's "Why don't I take more photos" Anime Expo 2013 Review!

So before we get started with the review, let me clarify one things that not many attendees knew.

Anime Expo Staff = Red Vest

Los Angeles Convention Center Staff = Red Shirt

LACC staff does not equal AX staff.

To the review!

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 5 - Day Three

Unlike the day before where I had a ton of free time, today was full of things for me to do and attend from the morning of until all the way through the night.

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 4 - Day Two

Day Two began with my quest to find ice coffee and/or breakfast in the early morning Los Angeles marine layer that encompassed the majority of Downtown.

Nate's Report: Anime Expo 2013 (Day 0 and 1)

Ok, reflection time. The last time I visited the city of Los Angeles was with a group of friends with one of them having a birthday during that weekend. That vacation turned out horrible with me losing a whole lot of respect to them during that time. It was also then where I vowed never to return to LA. 

Well that was back in 2009 and I didn't have much experience attending cons. Fanime 2009 would be my first anime con I attended and it was amazing. From there on, I continued to attended Fanime as well as other anime cons around California like Sacanime and Animation on Display. Who knew that after 4 years of attending anime cons, the adventure would lead me back to the place I dreaded ever since that vacation. It has been quite a long time, but it's time to make amends. Anime Expo was destined for me and I came in determined to have an awesome time!

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 3 - Day One

For some very odd reason, Day One began at 5am. Once one person in a room like this gets up, it'll cause a chain reaction and before you know it everyone is up.

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 2 - Day Zero

As with most reports, I usually start with Day Zero. But for this report, I'm starting at Day -1.

Matthew's Anime Expo 2013 Report: Part 1 - Prologue

It's safe to say that this moment has been a long time coming. It's been three years since I came back to Anime Expo, and the two years following that have been nothing short of disappointment from all ends, at least from my point of view, when it came to reporting from this convention.

Santa Rosa Toy Con 2013

Santa Rosa Toy Con was the first convention of any interest held local to me, so I was really hoping it would go well. I had some concerns about it, some of which proved to be unfounded, and in the end, I was pleasantly surprised.

Editorial: Matthew's Rebuttal to Lionel Lum's FanimeCon 2013 Review

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the California Conventions Blog.

 As the reports for FanimeCon 2013 come to a close and we turn our efforts to Anime Expo in a couple of weeks, we also start looking towards FanimeCon 2014 and their 20th anniversary in an expanded San Jose Convention Center. The number one concern going out of this convention is the state of registration, and we all conclude that something needs to be done to fix the aging and lengthy registration process.

Enter Lionel Lum, a 15 year veteran of the cosplay and convention community. His credits include running Usagichan Company Search and Rescue, a website that as a kid used to go to check on his coverage of anime conventions of the early 2000s, and building that Evangelion cockpit setup that was featured at FanimeCon 2013. He posted his review about a week ago which has stirred up a hornet's nest in the elephant in the room.

Ray Reports: Fanime 2013

I attend many conventions these days, but Fanime will always have a special place in my heart. It’s the first convention I ever attended, and it being only 15 minutes from my house, it’s more or less my “home” convention. It’s also an opportunity to meet friends, old and new, that I typically don’t get to see at any other time of year (i.e. due to distance, not caring about cons besides Fanime), although AX will hopefully change the “any other time of year” part soon. Even though I had a strong feeling Fanime this year was going to suck, I still went anyway, because to me, a year where I don’t attend Fanime is like a Tetris game with a missing piece.

 

In addition to the photos I have posted here, all photos I took during the convention can be found on my Flickr here. 

Nate's Report: FanimeCon 2013

It has been five years since I started attending Fanimecon and my experiences has been mixed. From 2009 till 2011, I've always enjoyed Fanimecon in its entirety. But ever since (well last year), Fanime started to go on the decline for me. There were a lot of things to consider when coming into Fanimecon this year like the construction of expanding the convention center. Sadly, that's still there. The guests of honor? Last year's wasn't as appealing. This time, it was so-so. Events? Panels? I didn't really go to much last year to be honest. Even with these setbacks giving me a hard time with Fanimecon last year, how will that affect Fanime this year? I enter the con this year with excitement and curiosity hoping this year's con would be like back in the days.

Fanime 2013 Pictures from Rukazu

FanimeCon 2013 Review

It's that time again, dear readers.
Yes, that's right. Another con review.

Let's get started, shall we?

Fanime 2013 Review by Rukazu

Fanime 2013 Review

By Rukazu

Hey everyone! Rukazu here and finally back with a review for Fanime 2013!  So without further ado, let’s jump straight into it!

Fanime 2013: Robbie's Report (Days 3-4)

Day 3 of Fanime started off with the Rumiko Takahashi series gathering, which I co-hosted. We decided to hold it at 10 in the morning, which unfortunately clashed with the Avatar/Legend of Korra gathering. It also meant that many of the attendees were still sleeping, tired, or hungover, so next year we'll set it for a somewhat later time. That aside, the gathering still got a very nice turnout; we had a fair amount of Ranma 1/2 cosplayers there (including myself as Ryoga), and an equally fair amount of InuYasha cosplayers. Hopefully we'll get more cosplayers from more Rumiko Takahashi series in future years, but this was off to a good start.

Fanime 2013: Robbie's Report (Days 0-2)

Oh, Fanime. This was quite the con, but I say that in both good and bad ways.There's much to say and less space to say it in, so let's get started.

Big Wow! ComicFest 2013

This was an ambitious year for Big Wow! ComicFest. Right off the bat, it was reaching out to several new industry and fan guests in order to draw a crowd and create the best con possible. This includes, to everyone's delight, the legendary Stan Lee himself, making it a con that is not to be missed.

I had originally intended to attend for both days, but an outside situation required me to go for Sunday only. That said, the day I was there was filled with hanging out with friends, meeting great guests, and generally having a good time.

Big Wow is held in the San Jose Convention Center, where Fanime will be in a few short days from now. While the center is still undergoing renovations, the rooms Big Wow used were not affected, so the only difficulties came from the hallways. This was also at the same time as a Bitcoin expo was underway, but none of the guests from one bothered those from the other in any way; in fact, it's likely that many from one also had a passing interest in the other.

Matthew Reports: DAiCon 2013

How one year can change.

Last year was the first year of DAiCon, an attempt to form an anime convention that was ran by the Davis Anime Club. It was a small, intimate-type of convention and a lot was learned from its first year.

This time last year, things weren't going my way. Since then, things have steadily improved and I was looking forward to this year's DAiCon in combination with my recent success.

 How one year can change.

Even before DAiCon opened registration at 9am on May 4th, 2013, I was immensely impressed on the strides this convention made in just a short year. Once I arrived, I was immensely impressed on those strides even more, and that was an hour before they officially opened their door at 10am.

Editorial: "Cosplay ≠ Consent" and the Real Underlying Question

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the California Conventions Blog.

Unless you have been living under a rock in the past month, you've probably heard about  "Cosplay ≠ Consent," this new movement to bring about awareness of sexual harassment at anime and comic conventions. Even conventions like Anime Conji caught onto it and imposed stricter policy when it came to attendee conduct; according to some eyewitness accounts, they caught a long-time "creeper" and banned him from all Southern California conventions. Now, whether this was a result of the movement or they finally caught him after years of sexually harassing cosplayers and the countless reports is yet to be seen.

However, there is a bigger question that lies beyond this, what I consider to be origins of this movement:

Why is it that when people attend anime and comic book conventions, it seems like all common sense gets thrown out the window?

Matthew's Response to "10 Tips For Surviving Con Season"

Click the picture to the link to the original article

This article was published on March 6th, 2013, on the website Nerdist News. The title says it all: tips on surviving a convention season. While the "convention year" is already set in motion with conventions like ALA, SacAnime, and AOD, the "convention season" is when the meat of the conventions, mostly the biggest, prestigious, and costly, occur: the Sakura-Cons, Fanimes, Anime Expos, and Otakons of the world.

I'll be reposting these tips as well as a my personal expertise and suggestions that accompany them.

Matthew Reports: SacCon March 2013

It's been awhile since I last wrote a solo report, let alone a report period. I've been mostly working behind the scenes ensuring that we had coverage for SacAnime as well as ALA and AOD. With these smaller conventions coming up between now and July (Anime Expo), I thought it would be nice to get back into reporting at the one place where I started: SacCon.

Nate's Report: Animation on Display 2013

A new month thus another con to go to; fortunately, it is right here in the bay area. First off, I have never been to Animation on Display before so I was entering this con having high hopes that it was going to be exciting. It just sucks that I was able to only go on Saturday due to my college actually having school on that President’s day holiday. Although I may not have had the full experience of AOD, will that affect my overall view of the con? Well let’s just see.

Ray Reports: Animation on Display 2013

I've been going to AoD since 2011, so I guess I'm one of the more "beginner" attendees here.

I looked forward to this con, more so than Sac-Anime, for a number of reasons. It's more local, which means less travel distance and more familiar folks. It's in Japantown, San Francisco, which is a very nice place for food and some shopping. Finally, I have fond memories of my first time here, mostly spending time with friends--small cons are "hangout cons" after all.

But it seems like I didn't really enjoy myself at AoD this year. There were some bad things that transpired, though my reasons for my lack of enjoyment are different.

(Caution: AoD is a FoodCon(TM), photos of good food will be in this con report. Do not open if you are feeling hungry. ;) )

Animation On Display 2013: Robbie's Review

I have to say, I was really looking forward to this year's Animation On Display. I had been facing two weeks of nonstop bad luck, from failures as a writer to a car crash, so I needed the escape, and I wanted to make this con the best possible. Unfortunately, the universe continued to conspire against me.

Jaden's Anime Los Angeles 2013 Review

My Anime Los Angeles 2013 experience was fantastic! There’s a reason that it’s my favorite convention.

Matthew's Editorial: The 64.2 Mile Journey

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the California Conventions Blog.

A lot of what I'm about to say in this piece I've probably said many times in previous years and may sound like the same song and dance, but it's only fitting that I write this as SacAnime moves to the Sacramento Convention Center.

Back To The Basics: Ryan's Return and SacAnime Winter 2013 Report

Hello fellow readers and welcome to my report for Sac-Anime Winter 2013! My name is Ryan "Ryu-san" Silva and it feels so good to writing for all of you again after a long break from moving on from division to division. A well needed break I'm making a HUGE impact here in Oregon for the Northern Division.

With that being said let's get down to business shall we?

Jade's "A Little Bit Late" ALA 2013 Review!

Hiya everyone! I'm one of the newest members of the California Conventions Blog. I'm a seasoned convention-goer, but this is my first time writing a review about a convention, as well as the first time I've written a blog. Hopefully everyone likes it! Sorry about the lack of pictures, I'm not quite used to my new phone!

Nate's Report: Sacanime Winter 2013

Hello everyone! To everyone out there who do not know me, I’m the newest member in the California Conventions Blog. My name is Nate and it’s great to be working with a team who loves to go to anime conventions like I do. You can see more information about me in the “About the Staff” section soon. But for now, it’s time to give out my first report and what better way than talk about the first con of the year, SacAnime Winter 2013. Well ever since I’ve attended SacAnime, it always packed with complaints such as "the place is too small, people are being too rude, etc. etc." Moving Sacanime into a new facility in the downtown district of Sacramento would help lessen those complaints as it is a whole lot bigger than the Woodlake hotel. But does that mean the con would run a whole lot better? Well I was there to take a look at that and of course have a lot of fun while I’m at it.

Ray Reports: Sac-Anime Winter 2013, Day 3

Day 3, Sunday, is the final day of Sac-Anime, which naturally means packing up, checking out, and getting only half of the day to enjoy the convention.

Ray Reports: Sac-Anime Winter 2013, Day 2

Day 2 of 3 of Sac-Anime is the sole "full" day of the convention, and thus the busiest.



Just an advance warning: This post contains photos and discussion of food. Those prone to bouts of hunger may want to disable images before reading this post. ~_^

Sac Anime Winter 2013: Robbie's Report

At long last, Sac Anime has moved from the Woodlake Hotel to an actual convention center! Those familiar with my horror story of that hotel should know why I'm glad to be rid of it, but that aside, it was an overdue change, given the crowding we had to deal with. So, now we've experienced the first year of Sac Anime in the new location, how does it stack up?

Ray Reports: Sac-Anime Winter 2013, Day 1

A year ago, we heard reports of Sac-Anime moving to a new venue, what with its growing size (and the size of the Woodlake Hotel) in comparison and various horror stories pertaining to the hotel (mischarges, security, etc.). It is this past weekend that Sac-Anime was held at its new home at the Sacramento Convention center for the first time.